starting to feel like home...

So yeah at first i was a lil nervous about winter break like what am i going to do and i am going to be soooo bored! but i must admit winter break has been the best thing to happen to me! so i started a winter camp in my neighborhood! i was soooo super stoked about it because i had sooo many games planned for the kids, then the first day of camp, it rained. if there is one thing that you should know about paraguay is if it rains, the whole country shuts down. ppl don`t go to work, they don`t go to school, they don`t do anything... so the first day we didn`t do anything. i was soooooo bored in my house, i was going mad! i wanted to get outta there!

but then the second day, some kids showed up. we started with four kids, had a march through the neighborhood and picked up more kids to play with us. so a group of four turned into a group of 20 plus kiddies! it was a success. we played sports. i finally got out there and played soccer! it was super fun! i am a terrible soccer player and i def won`t b playing with the adults any time soon. heh.

then my peace corps friend came the next day. we were just about to get up, freezing and he said to me that we should just sleep in cuz it was too cold and the kids weren`t going to come. i was like, maybe they will. so i got my ass up. i opened the door and them kids just came out of the cracks from all sides and attacked my ass! they were like, Stephen`s up, come on guys!!! it was the coolest thing. i totally had one of those celebrity moments like, they love me!!! they really love me!!! ya know? so that day we climbed 3, count them, 3 big ass hills. i mean i think at least one of them could classify as a mountain! u have to know that i was sooooo sore after that! o to the m to the g! those kids worked me. when we got to the top of the mountain we screamed and howled like wolves! it was very liberating! that day a group of brats...myself included, became a pack. haha. so we left the mountain and told my host family what we had done. they were upset with me because i took kids up that mountain. they said it was too dangerous. i was like hey, those kids wanted to go and i couldn`t do anything about it! plus, i think it proved just how tough kids are. like yeah, we can climb mountains, and what? i love the kids here. i must be honest with my fellow readers. there was a time when i did not like kids. like fo real. i would avoid them like the plague. but honestly they are growing on me...like fungus. but honestly some of my best friends here and biggest supporters are under the age of 10. for some reason its easier to make friends with kids than it is with adults. adults here act like i´m super weird for being here. they don`t understand why i would leave the states. they don`t understand the idea of volunteerism. i think the kids here get me more, which is cool cuz it makes my job a lot easier haha!

so winter break has been extended for another week. and we have more winter camp to come. on monday we are going to visit the museum, play some more sports. i also want to do a movie night. it should be warmer next week. so we could just put the tv outside with some blankets and popcorn and watch some kids movie. super stoked about that!

so this week i have been super sick and on my death bed. it was very sweet because my family took very good care of me. plus, i never want to get the flu shot again. ever since i`ve been getting it, i`ve gotten the flu! wtf? but even my bro came in to check on me even tho he said he was just looking for something. peh! so i really bonded with my fam this week and know that they really do care about me. its weird its just like we clicked all of a sudden. humf, bout time!

ok one more thing, i know i`m writing a novel. there was a youth group meeting in my city last night. the first of its kind! i am super stoked about it because they want to raise money for the youth`s to go to college, which is really cool but at first it was all business. then, i was like hey if we`re going to have a youth group we gotsta bring the fun! and i was like we should play games together, go out together, go camping and bond. also, they were talking about equality within the group. and i was like it is one thing to say that we are all equal and another thing to put systems in place to maintain the equality. so i told them that i could put some charlas together about la igualdad! super stoked!!!! plus i met a cute guy there! oh snap, crackle, and a pop and i am through!

Holla Back,
Stephen